Admission to the Program
University requirements for admission include a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; 3.0 GPA in last 60 hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate work; scores from the GRE General Aptitude test; and for international students whose first language is not English, a TOEFL score of 600 (or 100 on the internet based test), a minimum score of 68 on the Pearson Test of English, or a minimum IELTS score of 7.
In addition to meeting the minimum university requirements for graduate study, applicants must earn a satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Examination (verbal, quantitative, and analytic). Admission is based on academic record, test scores, letters of recommendation from two professors with whom work was taken recently, personal statement, 10 to 30 page writing sample, and favorable judgment by the department graduate committee and chair.
The College of Arts and Sciences uses a rolling admissions process, though if you are requesting to be considered for a merit award, the application deadline is January 15. Earlier submission preferred.
Writing sample of 10 to 30 pages required. Please email sample to casgrad@american.edu and history@american.edu. If you are applying for the public history concentration, please indicate this in your application.